yes,
breathing filth hurts
we've known it far too well for comfort ;
clogged hearts

/

this is not opposites attract but
polar sames —
you scrub your hands for
the sixty seventh time this week and
i scrub your footprints off the bedroom floor with
ritual sanctimony —
the house reeks of turpentine but
it's the smell of c l e a n

/

yes,
it goes just like this
the repeating loop of a washing machine ;
mirror stains

.